WWE Raw: Potential Spoilers, Rumors, News and Preview for March 18

There are only three weeks until the WWE’s biggest pay-per-view of the year, and the excitement around WrestleMania 29 is pushing the hype for this Monday’s Raw through the roof.

The WWE Universe is ready for some storyline development.

As great as the main-event scene has been—CM Punk vs. The Undertaker, Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar and The Rock vs. John Cena are all top-caliber feuds—the mid-card booking has been absolutely atrocious.

If the company doesn’t convince the fans that the second-tier matches are worth investing in, WrestleMania won’t have the prototypical impact it normally does.

The WWE knows exactly how to put on an event of this magnitude, and the company will build a midcard the WWE Universe can get behind. Monday’s Raw will lay the groundwork for the rest of WrestleMania 29.

Where: CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh

When: Monday, March 18, at 8 p.m. ET

Watch: USA Network

Potential Spoilers

According to Wrestling Inc., The Rock is not currently scheduled to appear on this week’s Raw from Pittsburgh, marking the second consecutive episode that the current WWE champion would not be on the show.

The Rock may be promoting the WWE while he is working on his shows or attending movie premieres, but the damage being done to the main-event storyline for WrestleMania 29 is undeniable.

It was already tough to sell many fans on a match that happened just a year ago, but the fact that the champion has missed several episodes of Raw and could reportedly miss another is not the correct way for the company to handle its primary championship.

Not only is The Rock’s schedule keeping the new WWE Championship belt off television, it’s also keeping the current face of the WWE, John Cena, off TV.

Hopefully, this week, we get Cena furthering this feud at the very least.

CM Punk’s Crusade Against The Undertaker

While there was a contingent of fans that believed CM Punk took his interruption of Paul Bearer’s memorial episode of Raw too far, the theft of the urn by Punk and its significance to The Undertaker has given this storyline a sense of legitimacy it didn’t have just a few weeks ago. WWE deserves credit for taking this chance.

Question on Everyone’s Mind: Will the Undertaker Confront Punk for the Urn?

Bearer was a huge part of The Undertaker’s gimmick. And not only did Punk interrupt the memorial ceremony and attack Kane, the bona fide heel stole the urn and mimicked The Undertaker to close last Monday’s show.

There is little doubt that Punk will march around Pittsburgh with the urn this week, and that will result in The Undertaker making his presence felt in one way or another.

Hype Meter: 5 out of 5 Death Knells

There are three episodes of Raw until WrestleMania 29, and the WWE will be going all in on this storyline to ensure that the fans are fully invested. Even if The Undertaker can’t be at every show, the company should have Punk haunted by the ring of Taker’s death knell before finally being confronted by The Deadman in the ring.

After watching Brock Lesnar destroy the New Age Outlaws and accept Triple H’s WrestleMania 29 challenge with the caveat that the superstar would have to blindly agree to the stipulation named by Paul Heyman and Lesnar, the Cerebral Assassin will get his chance to accept or decline the offer on Monday’s episode of Raw.

Question on Everyone’s Mind: Will Triple H Accept the New Challenge?

There are a million ways the WWE could take this angle heading into WrestleMania. But with a booking genius like Paul Heyman at the helm of this storyline, there is little doubt that Triple H will accept the challenge and have the deck completely stacked against him.

Hype Meter: 4 out of 5 Strings Being Pulled

It has been made very clear throughout the second chapter of this feud that Lesnar got the better of Triple H in the duo’s first meeting. Now that the WWE is stacking the deck against Triple H even more, this will be the boss’ son’s chance to steal the show and be the PPV’s knight in shining armor by beating Lesnar despite the adversity.